Unlike the present scenario, students will not have to visit the university in emergency situations to get their certificates. They will also not have to pay any fee to the university for getting certificates.

The varsity, avoiding the use of paper, will now issue digital certificates to students.(HT File Photo)

Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of digital India, Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS) has created a special cell for issuing digital certificates/degrees to its students.

The varsity, avoiding the use of paper, will now issue digital certificates to students. These certificates will be preserved digitally under the National Academic Depository (NAD).

“NAD is a commendable initiative of the central government. It is kind of a bank where students will have digital accounts for procuring and preserving their digital documents issued by the university to them,” said a senior official of the varsity.

“If a student requires a transcription of his/her certificate anywhere around the globe, he/she can simply access the documents from his digital account with NAD. Unlike the present scenario, students will not have to visit the university in emergency situations to get their certificates. They will also not have to pay any fee to the university for getting certificates.”

“NAD will provide free services to users for first two years and after that it will charge a nominal fee for preserving documents. There will be full transparency and no risk of fake degrees or certificates involved as students will be identified by their respective Aadhaar number,” said the officer.

Pertinently, NAD was recently launched in New Delhi by former President of India Pranab Mukherjee. Vice-chancellors of around 700 universities across country were part of the event, where the human resource development minister Prakash Javadekar directed them to adopt the practice at the earliest.

BFUHS vice-chancellor Dr Raj Bahadur, confirming the report said, “Following the conference of the VCs regarding digital initiatives in higher education, one thing which is very useful for students is the preservation of their degrees and detailed marks with NAD. BFUHS has created a cell for the same purpose.”

“We have appointed a nodal officer too adhering with the instructions of the concerned ministry. This initiative of the government is a great step in bringing absolute transparency in the education system,” said the VC.